$2000 is a lot of money considering you already have a monitor.
Here's what I would suggest (you should also wait for james_8970's suggestion)
Case - You should pick this one yourself, this is mostly a personal preference. If you want a silent case, I'd suggest an
Antec P182 for
$134.79.
Motherboard -
Gigabyte P35-DS3L for
$89.99. This one however only has 4 SATA connections so if you're looking at adding more than 4 SATA drives (dvd-writer and hard drives) then I'd suggest looking at the Gigabyte P35-DS3R.
RAM - Since you're not overclocking, you should get the
Corsair 2GB for
$53.00 (or $28.00 after rebate). Or you could get a
4GB for
$114.00 ($74.00 after rebate).
Hard drives -
Seagate 500GB 32MB cache for
$109.99. You'd probably need more than 500GB so I'd suggest getting another one since a 1TB costs way more than if you buy 2x500GB.
Processor - Since you're doing multimedia work, I'd suggest getting a quad core like the
Intel Q6600 for
$254.99. There's also new quad cores coming out but since you're not overclocking, I don't see the point in getting the new one (and it also might cost a little bit more than the Q6600).
Powersupply - For a modular PSU (you only hook up the cables you need so you don't have any unused cables connected to the powersupply) I'd suggest the
Corsair 520HX for
$124.99 (or $114.99). For a non-modular PSU, I'd suggest a
Corsair 550VX for
$99.99 (or $79.99 after rebate)
Video Card - For multimedia work, I'd suggest an ATI card like
HIS Radeon HD 3870 512 MB for
$189.99.
DVD-writer - This is pretty cheap, I'd suggest getting a
Pioneer for
$28.99OS - If you're going with 2GB of RAM, I suggest
Vista 32-bit Home Premium for
$99.99. If you're going with a 4GB of RAM, I suggest getting a
Vista 64-bit Home Premium for the same price. This is because a 32-bit system won't see all 4GB of RAM but a 64-bit will.
Total comes down to
around $1300. Hope that helps a little.
EDIT: I would also point out that the ATI Radeon HD 3870 512MB are suppose to drop down in prices
again.
Kamille
Edited by kamille316, 19 March 2008 - 10:39 AM.